Finale
by dieselwriter
Summary: The Final Battle. Harry may have killed Voldemort, but it's not over yet. A look into the fates of all major HP characters during and immediately after the war. HG, RHr, RT, and BF. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

**Finale**

By diesel writer

**A/n**: Okay, so welcome to the beginning of a brand-new fic by a brand-new author. No, I'm not a newbie, and heck no I'm not some preteen trying out her writing skills on the Internet. I've written many fics before this one, I've just been sharing them with my two sisters and haven't had the time (a.k.a. I've been too lazy) to post on the Internet. This, however, is my first attempt at a post-war fic, so it should (hopefully) be interesting.

**Summary**: The end of the final battle: Harry has to find what he's missing. A look into the proceedings and immediate aftermath of the destruction of Lord Voldemort. Will contain all **major** HP characters.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. De nada. Wait- that means you're welcome…? De nothing. There you go. Mrs. Rowling owns everything, and her being #746 on Forbes' Filthy Stinking Rich People List is a very big indication of that. She's worth—extends right pinky and lifts it to rest on the corner of right side of mouth—one billion dollars. So, yeah, since I'm worth about one dollar, I obviously don't own Harry Potter. She does. Not me. Get the picture? Good. De nothing.

**Dedication**: Dedicated to…um…me! Wait, that sounds selfish…okay, dedicated to anyone who reads this! Because your special—in a good way!

**Rating**: K+ (I think) for violence, profanity, and dark themes.

**Final Note**: If I've missed any seriously important characters in this, please let me know, so I can edit it to add them. By seriously important characters, that can go for either the good, the bad, or (in Snape's case) the ugly side. Ha ha, joking about the Snape…kind of….Don't worry, though, because Snape's in it.

Also, this is not a one-shot. It was originally, but now it's not. The first chapter underlines the one-shot, and the chapters coming after this will highlight on major battle scenes and events to happen afterward. So, yes, you can totally bug me about updating, because otherwise I won't do it. Seriously, I won't unless I know someone cares. Just one review is all it takes, because I won't be one of those people who hold chapters for ransom until I get 80 reviews (or however much it generally is). So, yes, be on the lookout for more chapters.

And without further ado, here's my story:

**Finale**

The final fight.

Many dead, more wounded.

Bodies litter the ground, some unidentifiable.

One stands alone, looking out across the battlefield.

Who knew a neighborhood could make a battlefield?

But that's what Godric's Hollow had turned out to be, when Harry and Voldemort had squared off.

Now Harry looked out across the street.

Death Eaters and members of the Order of the Phoenix all lay out in front of him.

He was the only one standing.

Voldemort's corpse lay behind him.

No one was moving in front of him, although gentle moans and whimpers could be heard.

Harry stumbled along the street. He couldn't rest until he knew.

He tripped over a body. He looked down to find Antonin Dolohov's arm sticking out of a pile of Death Eater bodies that had been thrown together unceremoniously.

Severus Snape was rising to his feet, dusting himself off beside the pile of his former allies.

The two made eye contact.

Snape nodded curtly. Harry returned the gesture.

Snape went off to help those injured. Harry continued on.

Because, even now, Snape had to redeem himself to the light side.

Because Harry had to know.

A streak of red met his bright green eyes. He almost cricked his neck to check-

But it was only the twins, Fred and George Weasley. Both had sat up and were checking on their older brother Charlie, who was still unconscious.

Warm relief spread through Harry as he continued to search.

He had to know.

More people were starting to rise.

Minerva McGonagall was administering aid, as was Molly Weasley.

Harry actually smiled at that.

Healers were also Apparating on the scene and were beginning to aid those in immediate danger.

A familiar face stared up at him from the ground.

Neville Longbottom's eyes were glassy and far gone, but a small smile played on his blue lips.

Bellatrix Lestrange lay dead four feet away.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and closed Neville's eyes.

And he continued on.

Because he had to know.

Draco Malfoy's normally slicked back hair framed his pale face in disarray.

Crabbe and Goyle lay at his side, loyal to the end.

All three were dead, and a bushy-haired somebody was slowly rising to her feet.

Harry had finally found part of what he was seeking.

Hermione retrieved her wand and turned around to face Harry.

She was cradling her right hand. It had been shattered to pieces.

She hardly seemed to care as she threw her right arm around him and started to cry on his shoulder.

He rubbed her back and felt a tear of happiness escape his eye.

But he couldn't stop now.

He had to know.

So he kept a protective arm around her shoulder and steered her around the battlefield.

Hermione gasped and Harry turned to look at her, his stomach plummeting.

Remus was kneeling above a bloody figure. His back was to both of them, but he was visibly shaking. He was holding the limp figure's hand.

Remus Lupin was sobbing over a mangled, bloodied, and dead Tonks.

Fenrir Greyback lay dead a few feet away, his face covered in blood. Whether it was his own or someone else's could never be determined.

Harry had to look away and squeeze his eyes shut. He heard nothing from Hermione, but she was shaking harder than ever.

Harry continued on, his arm still around Hermione.

He had to know and so did she.

Another flash of red lying on the ground-

A man lay stone cold alongside his wife. Their hands were clasped together.A small sob escaped Hermione's throat and Harry closed his eyes, willing the scene away.

Bill and Fleur were both dead.

Harry led Hermione away, because they both had to know.

And they ran into Ginny.

She had been completely burned. Her hair was singed and large welts were on her face and hands.

She was staring at her brother's and sister's-in-law lifeless bodies, tears filling her eyes.

But then she looked up into Harry's eyes, and all the fear and sadness escaped her and was replaced with a great happiness and unimaginable relief.

Harry, Hermione, and Ginny shared a hug together, as fierce and strong as their friendship.

Harry and Ginny shared a kiss, as passionate and affectionate as their love.

Hermione and Ginny shared a cry, as happy and caring as their sisterhood.

Hermione and Harry shared a laugh, as free and warm as their relationship.

And all three continued on.

Because there was a missing piece.

And they all had to know.

More people were beginning to rise, beginning to help others.

The trio stayed away from the groups of Healers, from the questioning eyes of those beginning to stir.

Ginny tensed under Harry's hold on her waist, and he turned to where she was looking.

Arthur Weasley was holding his son in his arms, crying openly for everyone to see, but he did not care.

Percy's hollowed eyes stared at the sky, completely blank.

A dementor had taken his soul away.

Tears were falling down Ginny's face, and Hermione was shaking with uncontrolled sobs.

Harry could not watch this heart-wrenching scene, so he guided the girls away.

Because they all had to know. They had to.

Nagini the snake lay dead in the gutter, taken care of by Harry earlier before the final fight. With the final Horcrux out of the way, Harry was able to finally destroy the darkest wizard of all time.

They passed on down the street.

They stopped in front of a corpse, lying cold by the sidewalk.

He was lifeless, but Harry could never find remorse for the traitor before him.

Peter Pettigrew had been killed.

And the murderer was five feet away, sitting up against a blasted mailbox post.

And they finally found the missing piece.

It was Ron.

The trio ran together as one to him; to the best friend, the lover, the brother.

And all three felt tears fall down their cheeks as he looked up into their faces.

A gash in his arm was bleeding profusely, and an even longer cut trailed over his right eye. He could no longer see out of it.

But he was still alive.

They all were.

And that was all that mattered.

He gave them that goofy grin they were all used to, and they immediately pulled him up into a hug.

The perfect moment; the puzzle completed.

**A/n**: Okay, that's it for the first installment / prologue / first chapter / one-shot but not really…etc. Check in for another update soon (like, 2-3 days, give or take). I dunno, I might be generous and get another one out earlier than expected. So Happy (belated) Easter! Please review (nicely), and constructive criticism is always helpful, but flames do nothing but incense the writer to write more garbage. Thanks for reading!

diesel writer


	2. Prophecy Fulfilled

**A/n:** This is excellent! You see, most authors obsess over reviews and such, but if you don't get them, then you've nothing to worry about! As I like to put it, no reviews are good reviews. If you hold no expectations, then you're never disappointed!

I've been trying to devise a way to get people to read this, but after attempting to follow a pattern with popular stories, I've realized all you can really do is have a good story. Hey, I'm working on it, people.

So let's start the magic (haha, catch the pun? ...Yes, lame I know)!

_Italics_ represent lines either from the prologue or from the books themselves.

**CHAPTER 1: Prophecy Fulfilled**

_The final fight. __Many dead, more wounded. __Bodies litter the ground, some unidentifiable. __One stands alone, looking out across the battlefield. __Who knew a neighborhood could make a battlefield? __But that's what Godric's Hollow had turned out to be, when Harry and Voldemort had squared off._

Battles were raging left and right; Harry had to do his best to run ahead of the battle front while trying to deflect the wayward jinxes.

He wouldn't allow anyone to get in his way or distract him; he had gotten this far, and he was finally ready to finish what had been started almost 30 years ago.

He reached the front, and there stood Voldemort, alone, as if he had been waiting there all his life.

"Potter," he hissed, his spider-like, thin white fingers twirling his wand, "it seems we meet again- for the last time."

Harry's eyes narrowed and the grip on his wand tightened.

He would kill Voldemort no matter what.

_

* * *

Now Harry looked out across the street. __Death Eaters and members of the Order of the Phoenix all lay out in front of him. __He was the only one standing. __Voldemort's corpse lay behind him._

"Your time is up, Potter!" screamed Voldemort, his red eyes flashing dangerously in the light of his wand tip.

The fight was nearing its end; anyone who had the time to glance at the battle could tell.

Harry was injured: a few slash curses had cut him, and a Cruciatus Curse had found mark in his shoulder. He was unwilling to give in, however. After all, he had made some shots at Voldemort. Harry had been able to do a bit of damage with a few well-placed Sectumsempra curses.

"Let's just see, old man," Harry spat back.

Voldemort raised his wand, as did Harry.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!_"

The two separate voices rang out into the cold night air as one; green jets of light burst simultaneously out of each wand and flew straight toward each other. They connected, and the resulting blast was almost blinding.

It wasn't like the Priori Incantatem from their first meeting in Harry's fourth year. There was no beam, not from such deadly curses; it was just an explosion of power.

Both were thrown back away from each other. Harry's back slammed into the ground.

He knew, though, that he had to keep on his feet. He rose as quickly as he could without causing too much pain and tried to search through the dirt and dust that covered the battlefield for his nemesis.

It was far too quiet. Harry stepped forward uncertainly. Hadn't Voldemort just been in front of him?

It was eerie; he knew the dark wizard must have gotten up already, but he couldn't see anything through the dusty fog that had settled in. The hairs on the back of his neck unwillingly prickled, and a chill swept through his body.

A shadow moved to his left. He turned, but it had disappeared as quickly as it came.

His wand hand was getting sweatier as his grip became tighter.

He felt something move behind him. Again, he turned, but this time he could make out a figure.

Harry advanced, wand at the ready, slowly and cautiously.

Voldemort was waiting for him. He smiled viciously.

"I grow sick of your games, young Harry. Once I kill you, I will kill every other person here that is not loyal to my cause. Everyone you love, Harry, everyone who has every believed in you, I will murder. It will stand as a message to the rest of the world: side with me and they live. Side with you, they die."

Anger flooded Harry as he listened to the Dark Lord's words.

"Those closest to you, Potter, will be the ones I shall spare longest. They will suffer, be tortured, before I mercifully kill them. Your best friend, the blood-traitor, he will see his family be tortured, then murdered, right in front of his eyes. I don't particularly care for your Mudblood, but I suppose one of my loyal followers could find something fun to do with her."

Something was raging inside Harry. He wanted to unleash it, to crush Voldemort, to make him pay for everything he had ever done, and for everything he was saying at this very moment.

"I will never let you touch them."

The Dark Lord smiled. "Of course not. You are far too _noble_ to let anything happen to your friends as long as you can help it. That's why I'm going to kill you."

And that was all it came down to between Harry and Voldemort. Harry's death would result in the end of everything good he had ever known in his life.

"_Incarcerous_," Voldemort said softly.

Ropes sprung up from the ground. Harry moved left and right, trying to dodge them, but one wrapped around his left ankle and tripped him, sending face-first into the dirt.

"Harry, our fight ends here."

A tall and gangly 11-year-old red head asked to sit next to him on the train.

"It was a valiant effort, but no one stands against the Dark Lord and survives."

The same red head, 7 years older, watched, horrified and grotesquely mesmerized, as his family was tortured in front of him, helpless to do anything.

"Say goodbye, Potter."

An 11-year-old girl with bushy brown hair and large front teeth asked him if he had seen a toad on the train.

"_Avada_-"

The same girl, hair only slightly less bushy, front teeth greatly reduced, and 7 years older, sat completely helpless and crying silently as an old man with yellowing teeth smiled satanically at her and held her face in one of his dirty, crusty hands.

He couldn't let it happen. His best friends meant more to him than anything ever had. His wand was still in his hand, but he was unable to point it at the Dark Lord, so he was unable to perform any spell. He was stuck; the ropes dug into his flesh as he tried to move, to do anything at all.

"_Keda-_"

Harry's eyes shut automatically; bracing himself for what he knew must come next. A single tear escaped his eye.

"_I'm sorry_," he whispered.

But suddenly a bright light flashed behind his closed eyes. It was strange…the Killing Curse was definitely green…and he definitely shouldn't feel this alive….

Harry opened his eyes.

A dazzlingly white stag was cantering around Voldemort, distracting him enough so that the bonds restraining Harry fell to the ground, suddenly limp.

A much older red head smiled as his red-headed daughter squirmed in his lap while he tried to teach her the different chess pieces on the board in front of them.

Harry stood up, unsure of what he was doing, but at the same time feeling as if it was something he was meant to do.

A woman with somewhat bushy hair sat by her younger son's bedside, reading him a bedtime story and kissing him on the forehead as he drifted off to sleep.

Voldemort continued to try to get rid of the stag that kept striking him in an attempt to knock him to the ground.

Harry aimed his wand, pointing it directly at the dark wizard.

"_A force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature._"

"_There are more important things- friendship and bravery and- oh Harry- be careful_!"

"_If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!_"

"_He will have power the Dark Lord Knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…._"

"_You said to us once before that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?_"

"_We're with you whatever happens._"

The stag gleamed so bright that Voldemort was blinded, unable to see what was coming.

Harry smiled.

"_Avada Kedavra_."

**

* * *

**

**A/n:** Okay, that's it for now! Please, please take all of 10 seconds to write something down for a review! Well, I'd hope you'd spend a bit more time so as to be articulate with a response, but I'll take what I can get. THANKS!diesel writer


	3. The Good, the Bad, and the Snape

**A/n**: Alas, no one likes to take the time to review my story. Not that I'm upset; after all, I know that what I write isn't absolutely despised, right? Well, I decided to change the summary to make people more interested. I've learned now that the #1 perfect, without a doubt, foolproof way to get people to read a fic is to include shipping in the summary. Pathetic, I know, but if you look at a summary and read that they ship what you do, you're more inclined to read it. So yeah, this is the same story, just a new summary. Not that I could possibly be confusing anyone, because no one reviews so I can safely assume no one reads this. That means I can rant about whatever I want and not have to worry about it! Mwuahaha….

This chapter is especially for all those Harry/Ginny lovers, as well as those 'Snape's not _really_ an evil bastard…he's just pretending' people. Oh yeah, and twins are here too! And Charlie! Weasleys abound, people! Rejoice!

**CHAPTER TWO: The Good, the Bad, and the Snape**

_No one was moving in front of him, although gentle moans and whimpers could be heard._

_Harry stumbled along the street. He couldn't rest until he knew._

_He tripped over a body. He looked down to find Antonin Dolohov's arm sticking out of a pile of Death Eater bodies that had been thrown together unceremoniously. __Severus Snape was rising to his feet, dusting himself off beside the pile of his former allies. __The two made eye contact. __Snape nodded curtly. Harry returned the gesture. __Snape went off to help those injured. Harry continued on. __Because, even now, Snape had to redeem himself to the light side. __Because Harry had to know._

Harry had been searching the battles to find Voldemort. Left and right, Order members and Death Eaters were fighting, falling. He tried to help out as best he could, but he was on a mission.

He stumbled across a large battle, with at least a dozen Death Eaters and Order members fighting. He recognized immediately a young witch with fiery red hair.

Ginny Weasley's back was to him. She had just stricken down a Death Eater and was searching for her next victim.

Harry's breath left him when Antonin Dolohov stepped out of the crowd and stood a few feet from Ginny, smiling evilly at Harry all the while.

Ginny apparently noticed his presence and turned to look at him. She paled considerably but held her wand up to him all the same. However, he was already two steps ahead of her. Before Harry or Ginny could say anything, a lasso of fire erupted from his wand, and he lashed out at Ginny.

Ginny barely had time to register what was happening before the fire rope had grazed her hand. She let out a scream and dropped her wand, pulling her burnt hand into her chest.

"Ginny!"

Ginny turned scared eyes to Harry, who was desperately trying to get closer to her. Dolohov, however, would have none of that.

Ginny fell to her knees as the lasso wrapped around her waist. Three more lashes, three more screams. Harry was beside himself, white-hot fury coursing through his veins.

Harry lost count as the lasso struck her face and arms. No matter how fast he seemed to run, he could not get close enough to cast a spell at the maniac causing Ginny so much pain.

And then Harry saw it in his eyes; Dolohov lowered his lasso as Ginny gritted her teeth on the ground, clutching her arms into her chest. Dolohov called back the fire coming from his wand and then pointed it at Ginny.

Harry was pushing people aside, running, screaming for her. The deadly words formed on Dolohov's lips. Harry was cursing people out of the way, no matter friend or foe, to get to her side before he could finish the fatal spell.

"_Avada_-"

Ginny turned her petrified eyes to Harry, tears streaming from them.

"Harry! _HARRY_!"

"GINNY!" Harry wailed, the tears now starting to stream down his face as he continued to fight to get to her.

"_Ke-_"

Suddenly, Dolohov's eyes unfocused and he fell to the ground, dead. Ginny turned her streaming eyes to the man that stood behind the fallen Death Eater.

Severus Snape did not react as Harry finally made it over to Ginny. In fact, he didn't say anything as he returned to the battle, firing curses on his former Death Eater comrades.

Harry immediately pulled Ginny up and embraced her briefly, all the while gaping at Ginny's savior.

* * *

_A streak of red met his bright green eyes. He almost cricked his neck to check- __But it was only the twins, Fred and George Weasley. Both had sat up and were checking on their older brother Charlie, who was still unconscious. __Warm relief spread through Harry as he continued to search. __He had to know._

"Fred- your back!"

Fred turned around and immediately launched a hex at the Death Eater.

"Thanks George- to your right!"

George likewise turned to his right and fired a hex.

"Behind you-" both started at the same time, but they merely shrugged and aimed their wands over the other's shoulder and hit the targets behind the others back.

"Forget it," they said together again before grinning and returning to the battle.

"Oi! Fred- George!" a familiar voice called from the midst of the Death Eater barrage attacking the twins.

Both brothers turned to share a brief glance before trying to make their way over to where the familiar voice had called.

"Where are you?" Fred called to the mysterious voice as he aimed his wand at an oncoming Death Eater. "_Expelliarmus_!"

"By the- oh hell I don't know," the voice shouted out, followed by a grunt of pain.

Fred looked at George and both smiled slightly. They knew that voice.

"Charlie!" George called out, after blasting another enemy with a Tripping Jinx. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific-"

But just then his older brother appeared and ambled into Fred.

"Well hey Charlie, nice of you to drop in…" Fred started before helping him to quickly stand back up so he could continue the fight. "What happened?"

Charlie quickly regained his footing and turned to help out his twin brothers. "Sorry, Ginny and I were together earlier but we got separated- _Incarcerous_!"

"Separated? _Stupefy_! Where is she now? _Tarantallegra_!" George shouted.

"Left her- _Impedimenta! _– with Bill!"

Fred and George, satisfied with the explanation, continued dueling feverishly against the never-ending crowd of Death Eaters surrounding them with the help of Charlie. Well, at least until they heard an unearthly roar in the distance.

"What was-" George said, but in his moment of surprise he was struck in the shoulder by a spell and fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder.

"George- get up! C'mon, we need you!" Fred shouted, trying to cover all three of them with a Shield Charm so as to be able to help his twin up.

The charm wasn't set fast enough, as another spell was sent and hit Charlie in his back before it was protected. He shouted in pain and fell on all fours, his arms trembling slightly.

"Damn- c'mon Charlie- George- get up and let's go, I need help taking down these gits!" Fred was slightly panicky as he gestured to the Death Eaters outside of the now complete shield surrounding the three brothers.

George removed his hand from his shoulder and swore loudly. A hole was burnt in his shirt, and blood was oozing out of the large wound on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Charlie was loosing his battle to stay conscious as he slowly slumped to the ground, pain still etched on his face.

Another resounding roar was heard, and a blast caused a group of Death Eaters in the circle surrounding the three Weasleys to fly in the air and right in front of the shield. Fred and George turned their eyes quickly to find a huge monstrosity: a beast at least 16 feet tall, with massive arms and hands big enough to crush any of them. He had a startling huge face resembling a gray full moon, complete with a stubby and shapeless nose, lopsided mouth full of misshapen yellow teeth the size of half-bricks, and muddy greenish-brown eyes.

"Oh, God…" George murmured, looking slightly sick, and clutched his shoulder again as he tried to regain his footing.

"How the hell are we going to deal with _that _thing?" Fred asked, repressing a shudder as the great beast squinted its eyes and seemed to glare at the shield.

"Grawpy!" a familiar voice roared, "ATTACK!"

Fred looked down at his incapacitated brothers and paled considerably. He turned his eyes back to the monster.

"Oh, shit-"

But the appearance of a recognizable half-giant put most of Fred's fears to rest as Hagrid came crashing into the circle to join his brother in a complete onslaught on every Dark wizard in sight.

"Well hey there, Fred!" roared Hagrid as he knocked his huge fist into the face of a panic-stricken Death Eater. "Doin' all righ'?"

"I've been better, but still standing," Fred replied.

"Well I could really use yer help righ' now!" Hagrid yelled back.

Fred turned to look at George, who was still clutching his shoulder. "George-"

"Go," he interrupted quietly. "I'll look after Charlie."

Fred smiled as he dropped the shield. He then went on the offensive to aid Hagrid and 'Grawpy.'

* * *

**A/n: **Yay, chapter end! I'm so glad I decided to write this instead of my 2 composition papers due tomorrow. I'd insert something along the lines of what's more interesting, this or my papers, but my second paper _is_ on Harry Potter, so it'd kind of defeat the purpose. I'm writing on how Rowling's series is prejudiced as children's literature, when it is just as much adult lit as kid-lit. Yeah, it's freaking long (like 12 pages), but there's a hell of a lot of canonical evidence I have to site, isn't there?

And if you are dissatisfied with the not really having a lot of Harry/Ginny-ness, don't worry, cause they are certainly coming back with a vengeance. If you read the prologue, oh, you'd know...And you'd also know what the next chapter's about: Battlemode!Neville and KillDraco!Hermione, gonna be sweet (and rather lengthy).

So yeah, have a good week people! PLEASE REVIEW, PLEASE! I'll give you a shout-out, or cookies, or chocolate, or marshmallow peeps! Whatever you want! Sigh...well, ciao for now!

diesel writer


	4. Rings and Retribution

**A/n**: YAY! Today was my last day for classes! I'M FREE! Only 10 days left till I'm off for the summer; then I can post loads of chapters as well as new stories! Won't that be fun?

Yeah, I think I've discovered another reason to add to the growing list of why I'm an idiot. I think my anonymous reviewers were not allowed to review, but I think (a.k.a. hope with all my heart) I've enabled it, so we should be okay to go! This may not be my first fic, but it is the first one I've ever posted, so I'm new to the system. Sorry, I'm trying to get the hang of it!

Special thanks to my wonderful, favorite two new people on the web, Mystical-Magical-Me and shadowsfriend! Don't you two worry; I'll continue writing through thick and thin! And next week is going to be like pea soup- 4 finals! AACK! Chemistry never looked so evil.

In honor of my reviews, this chapter's extra long! And we all know that's because Neville and Hermione are about to kick butt!

Note: This chapter may not be enjoyed by Draco lovers. Sorry, kinda. Draco's not my favorite character, but I understand that it's mostly his father's fault. Although the apple never falls far from the tree, eh? Anyway, he kinda sorta had to die. I know loads of people think he's gonna turn out good, but I just don't see it. He reminds me of a braver Regulus Black, in the respect that he was sort of pulled into Death Eater servitude, but he'd get the job done (otherwise face the wrath of his father and Voldemort). But you will notice he never killed anyone in this fic, or attempted to. Does that make him a better person than Hermione and Neville? You tell me (REVIEW). Haha, did that seem like a subliminal message? ...

So on with the story! Neville and Hermione get ULTIMATE REVENGE! Mwuahaha.

**CHAPTER 3: Rings and Retribution**

_More people were starting to rise. __Minerva McGonagall was administering aid, as was Molly Weasley. __Harry actually smiled at that. __Healers were also Apparating on the scene and were beginning to aid those in immediate danger. __A familiar face stared up at him from the ground. __Neville Longbottom's eyes were glassy and far gone, but a small smile played on his blue lips. __Bellatrix Lestrange lay dead four feet away. __Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and closed Neville's eyes. __And he continued on. __Because he had to know._

Neville had been able to spot her the minute he had Apparated to Godric's Hollow. She did not even bother with her mask as it only hindered her view, so her dark skeletal-like eyes darted back and forth between Aurors and Order members as she dueled and won against each of them in turn.

This was his one chance to get revenge. His one opportunity to prove to his parents and himself that he could do something he really wanted: to avenge his parents.

He strode determinedly and confidently past other duels towards her, ignoring everyone apart from his target.

She had just finished off another opponent with the Killing Curse when she turned to look at him.

"Well, what do we have here? Don't I know you from somewhere?" she cackled in her evil, mocking voice he detested so much.

Neville gritted his teeth and clenched his wand tight. "You ought to. I'm the one who's going to murder you."

Her dark eyes glowed intensely; she smiled in apparent delight as she ignored his last statement. "The Longbottom boy! Time to complete the set and send you to the loony bin with Mummy and Daddy? Or would you rather me just kill you instead?"

Neville shot off a spell in his anger and she easily blocked it.

"Temper, temper, Longbottom; you'll have to control that anger if you want the chance to live."

But Neville couldn't handle her taunts anymore; he sent off spell after spell at her, thinking of every hex and charm Harry had ever taught him in the D.A. over two years ago.

She dodged the first few easily, but as Neville's spells intensified and his aim improved, she had to use her wand to set up shields and fire a few hexes of her own to keep up.

"_Stupefy! Impedimenta! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!_"

"_Protego! Finite Incantatem! SECTUMSEMPRA!_"

Her final spell hit him in his wand arm. He dropped his wand and hissed in pain as long gashes cut across his arm deeply, blood pouring profusely. He dropped to his knees in search of his wand, but stopped abruptly as she crouched beside him and shoved her wand into the side of his neck.

"Final chance, little boy. Beg for mercy and I shall make your death swift and painless."

Her wand was poking so hard he was finding it hard to breath, but he was able to let out his reply in a raspy voice: "Never."

"Someone needs to be taught a lesson," she said with a cruel smile, "on how to speak politely to their executioners. _Crucio_!"

He was in unbearable pain; white hot knives pierced every part of him. He tried not to scream, not in front of her, but couldn't help but let it out as wave upon wave of pain coursed through his body. She threw back her head and cackled.

'But she's not watching me,' Neville thought in his delirious state. 'Where's- wand- where'd it go-'

He was rolling on the ground, trying to relieve the pain somehow and to see if he could feel around for his wand. That's when he realized a different pain on his back- he was laying on his wand.

She finally lifted the curse, returning to grimace above him, watching him twitch as a result of the aftershocks of the curse. She leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Final choice, boy. Mercy killing or torture to insanity?"

Neville was able, miraculously, to reach his hand to where his wand lay. He still needed a distraction, though- something to give him enough time to whip out his wand. He did the first thing he could think of.

He spat in her face.

She stood up and backed away from him in a shriek as she wiped at her face, allowing him enough time to sit up completely, aim his wand at her, and shout out the curse: "_Avada Kedavra!_"

She, however, realized what he was doing and likewise unleashed the Killing Curse a split second after he had.

Time seemed to slow as the two spells nearly collided in midair; only a few inches separated the two. The spells seemed to pick up speed after they passed each other and made their way towards their respective targets.

She was hit with the green light first. Her eyes slowly widened in surprise, her mouth formed a perfect o, and she fell face forward into the dirt a few feet in front of him.

Neville had barely enough time to glow with pride before he too was hit with the fatal curse. He did not act surprised though, or look even remotely afraid. As he fell onto his back, all he could do was give a smile.

He had finally killed Bellatrix Lestrange.

* * *

_Draco Malfoy's normally slicked back hair framed his pale face in disarray. __Crabbe and Goyle lay at his side, loyal to the end. __All three were dead, and a bushy-haired somebody was slowly rising to her feet. __Harry had finally found part of what he was seeking. __Hermione retrieved her wand and turned around to face Harry. __She was cradling her right hand. It had been shattered to pieces._

"Ah, so we meet for a final time, Mudblood," Draco Malfoy's voice rang cold and true throughout her head.

"_Stupefy!_"Hermione yelled, finishing off the Death Eater she had been dueling with. Then she turned to stare into the dark gray eyes that bore into hers.

"Malfoy," she spat out the name, as if it were a bad taste in her mouth.

"Let's go, Granger, Weasel's not here to protect you now," he replied.

Her face tinged light pink but continued nonetheless: "I can protect myself, Malfoy. You, on the other hand…." she pointed her wand to Crabbe and Goyle. The two hulking figures were standing on either side of Malfoy, deflecting awry spells headed their way from other battles.

"It's okay, Granger, I understand that your little friend is busy," the young Death Eater replied smugly, glancing some distance over her shoulder. "He has enough to be going on with for now."

Hermione felt a jolt in her stomach as she reluctantly glanced behind her, enough to see what Draco was looking at but still able to keep the three in her peripheral vision. They, however, were watching the scene behind her, and were unwilling to hex her while they enjoyed her discomfort.

Her breath caught in her throat; Ron was battling like mad: spell after spell flew from his wand as he ducked and dodged spells aimed at him. Peter Pettigrew stood before him, surprisingly battling just as fiercely, using his silver hand to create a unique advantage.

Then she saw it; out of the corner of her eye, Malfoy was drawing his wand and muttering something under his breath. She quickly spun on the spot and performed a silent Shield Charm. Draco's curse bounced off her shield and shot at Crabbe. He howled in pain as the hex hit near his eye, causing boils to erupt all over his face.

Hermione allowed herself a moment of self-satisfaction before returning to scowl at Draco. He, for his part, looked slightly startled. He quickly erased it, however, with a smirk.

"Nice trick, Mudblood," he replied, smooth as ever. He stepped forward a few feet. "If you want to give up now, though, I promise I'll make your death nice and quick."

Hermione laughed bitterly. "You kill me? If you don't have the guts to kill an injured old man without a wand, what makes you think you'd be able to do in someone who is obviously smarter and better at dueling than you?"

Draco scowled and sent a silent hex at her, which she quickly blocked. He sent two more spells, but she blocked the first and deflected the second, which grazed Goyle's arm.

Draco turned angrily to his two comrades. "Are your feet stuck to the ground? Get over there!"

Goyle nodded dumbly and Crabbe removed his hand from his face. Both started advancing towards Hermione, but in the moment Crabbe had let his guard down from the off-target spells of other duels, a jet of green light flew straight and true and hit him in the chest. His eyes widened in horror and he fell to the ground, dead.

Malfoy looked nauseous and Hermione felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. Goyle stood and looked down at him as if completely lost.

Malfoy cried with rage and turned fierce eyes toward Hermione. She looked at him in surprise.

"I- I didn't- it wasn't me-"

He, however, would not accept any of her stutters, no matter how true. He seemed to have put all reason behind him.

He performed a quick succession of silent spells, most of which Hermione was able to block, but a few managed to nick her, causing bruises and cuts to formulate. Finally, he shot out a Trip Jinx, which caught Hermione off-guard and sent her face-first into the street. She started to get up before Draco came over and kicked her in her stomach, sending her back to the ground, completely winded.

"You know what was the most rewarding thing I did last year, Mudblood?" he asked her, then kicked her in the stomach once again. "Possibly one of the greatest things I've ever done in my entire life? It was nearly murdering the Weasel King. That poison was mere seconds away from killing him; if it wasn't for Saint Potter, your pathetic trio would be one weasel short."

Despite the pain in her stomach, Hermione felt pure rage course through her body as she listened to his tirade. She tried to inconspicuously point her wand at him; however, he seemed to notice and brought his foot down on her hand. Hermione immediately dropped her wand, where it rolled to her side; she grimaced and clenched her teeth as she felt the bones crunch underneath his heel. He smiled spitefully and ground her right hand further into the cement, and she couldn't help but yell out in pain.

"And what's this?" he asked, removing his foot and stooping down to examine her hand. He picked it up gently, much to Hermione's surprise, and examined her ring finger, on which sat a silver ring with a small diamond in the center. "Getting married, Granger? God, I hope you're not planning on spawning any Mudbloods."

Hermione tinged pink but faced him head-on. "It's a promise ring, not that it concerns you."

"Oh, a promise ring…now who might the idiot be that placed such a meager symbol of your love on your hand? Considering that it looks to have cost about two Knuts, I'd have to say the ring's from the Weasel."

Hermione tried to conceal her anger as she attempted to maneuver her left hand without being noticed by Malfoy. She carefully struggled to move it under her stomach so as to retrieve her wand, which had rolled to the right side of her body. Until she could reach it, however, she'd have to distract him.

"When I put on this ring I promised someone I cared for deeply that I wouldn't leave him no matter what, especially not because of the likes of you."

Malfoy seemed pleased that she was taking his bait. She inched her hand ever-closer to her wand.

"Sorry, Granger, you're not my type. I prefer mine Pureblooded and a bit stupid, that way they know who the boss is. It seems we have somewhat similar tastes in this respect."

If Hermione wasn't so close to wrapping her fingers around that precious stick, she would have sat up and slapped him.

"Ron is one of the smartest people I have ever met, even if you are too blind to notice. And I feel sorry for you, Malfoy, because the only way you'll find someone dumber than you would be if you went out with Goyle."

Goyle, for his part, did not even register the fact that he had just been insulted. He was still staring at Crabbe, whose face had gone white as a sheet and whose eyes were glassed over, staring at nothing.

Draco also seemed unperturbed by her cheek; rather, he seemed to be done with their game, as he slowly sat up and stared condescendingly down at her battered body. He smoothly drew his wand and pointed it at her chest.

"I kill you first, Mudblood," he stated, as clear and concise as he used to sound when giving first-years detentions as a prefect, "and then I help Pettigrew kill your boyfriend- or husband- whatever you want to call him. But first-"

He reached back over and yanked the ring from her right hand. She unwilling shrieked with pain as he threw her broken hand back down and sat up with the ring in his clenched fist.

"You broke your promise, Granger. You swore you wouldn't leave him. So now I break your ring, and then you."

His concentration on the ring provided Hermione a perfect distraction as she finally reached her wand and rolled over so as to better face her foe.

"A good Severing Charm ought to do it. _Diffin-_"

"_IMPEDIMENTA_!"

Hermione had never felt so much hatred toward him before. The thought that Malfoy was so close to destroying something so precious was completely infuriating.

"How dare you," she said in a dangerously low voice. "What gives you the right?"

Malfoy, having jumped to the side to avoid the spell, dropped the ring in the process. His eyes narrowed maliciously.

"You dirty little bi-"

"_Impedimenta_!" Hermione shouted out again.

Draco set up a shield and countered with a sneer.

"_Rictusempra_!"

"_Incarcerous_!"

"_Stupefy_!"

"_Petrificus Totalus_!"

"_SECTUMSEMPRA_!"

"_EXPELLIARMUS_!"

_"CRUCIO-_"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

A green jet of light immediately burst from Hermione's wand and made a direct course towards Malfoy. He stood shocked, caught completely unawares.

Even in death, Malfoy made sure he went gracefully. His back arched and he fell almost as if in slow motion. He didn't seem to make any noise as he hit the ground next to Crabbe, or it could have been that Hermione's hearing was no longer working properly.

Something felt dark about her now. She continued to pant heavily, her eyes still narrowed and her wand still poised where Malfoy had been standing moments ago. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, the adrenaline still pumping quickly through her body: she wasn't sure, even now, how she felt about Malfoy. Yes, she was mortified, but at the same time she couldn't forget about his death threats, especially those aimed at Ron.

She slowly returned her wand to her side, lowered her head, and continued to clench her teeth as the memories flooded her mind.

Ron. She swore to herself that she wouldn't bring up that moment before the battle, when he gave her that ring. Promising to keep them both safe, and her the same; that after the war, they'd be together. Thinking of Ron, some of the darkness she felt seemed to fade away.

Her head popped back up as her reverie was interrupted by the hulking form of Goyle, who had finally moved from his original position in front of Crabbe. He shuffled his large feet to stand at Malfoy's other side, to see if what he had just witnessed was true. After staring at Malfoy's glassy eyes and unmoving form, his suspicions were confirmed: Draco Malfoy had just been murdered by Hermione Granger.

He seemed to hesitate; he sniffed, looked back at Crabbe and then Malfoy again. Finally, he stared into Hermione's eyes. The two stared at each other for at least a minute before he seemed to formulate what had happened. He raised his wand and took careful aim.

"_Avada Kedavra_," he whispered, barely loud enough for Hermione to hear.

The rushing sound of death; a green light; then nothing.

Goyle fell beside Malfoy, pale as death.

He had pointed his own wand on himself.

Hermione, who had watched all of this silently, couldn't help but let out a gentle sob as a tear traced down her cheek. Her limbs were growing heavy and the adrenaline that had been pumping through her body had all but dissipated.

But suddenly, she remembered-

The ring.

"Where is it?" she asked herself, in a complete panic as she dropped to her knees to search the ground frantically. "Where'd it go? How- where-"

Then she saw it, right where Draco had dropped it. She crawled over quickly and picked it up with a groan of longing.

"Oh, Ron," she moaned, placing the delicate ring on her uninjured left ring finger. "Please keep your promise."

An off-course Stunner from another battle hit her right in the chest, but she felt no pain as her body hit the ground and her world disappeared into darkness.

* * *

**A/n**: Kind of anticlimactic on that last part, but another chapter, another…dollar? Oh, that really doesn't work (like anyone would pay me to update...).I've been in debate about writing a sort-of prequel to this story. It'd be about Ron giving Hermione her ring, but I haven't decided yet. I'll see how the rest of this story goes before making a decision.

Next chapter: Happy!Harry and Worried!Hermione meeting, and Angsty!Remus.Oh, I'm gonna get killed for the next chapter. Remus fans, you may want to load your guns now. Dangerous times lie ahead, readers...

So thanks for reading and please take the time to review! And thanks again to my two wonderful reviewers!

diesel writer


	5. Gain and Loss

**A/n**: I'm back and I am free! Okay guys, sorry about the wait; I didn't mean it- honest- and (as already stated) I am NOT giving up on this fic! I've been way busy over these past two weeks, what with finals (NOT CHEMISTRY! AHH!) and final grades (NOT CHEMISTRY! AHH!), and getting home (not 14 hours in the car with my grandparents! AHH!). So, yeah, it's been a major blast, but the good news is I didn't flunk out of my first year at college! And I got pretty decent grades, so I'm happy!

**Note**: Remus fans probably won't like me after this chapter. That man suffers so much, and what do I do? Well, this chapter does reference the rest of the Mauraders, so maybe you'll like that part. Hey, at least I didn't kill him (although there are far worse things than death, as you'll soon see).

And without further ado:

**CHAPTER 4:Gain and Loss**

_She hardly seemed to care as she threw her left arm around him and started to cry on his shoulder. __He rubbed her back and felt a tear of happiness escape his eye. __But he couldn't stop now. __He had to know. __So he kept a protective arm around her shoulder and steered her around the battlefield._

Harry stopped in his tracks at the body lying on the ground.

He might have been in shock; he wanted to see her, to knowshe was okay, but the thought of him going over there and finding her…well, he couldn't imagine it.

However, before he got the courage to do anything, she moved. The bushy brown haired girl sat up slowly and grasped her wand. Harry's breathing was becoming rampant as she stood up and turned to face him.

Hermione's eyes nearly bugged out when she saw Harry, and he gave her a small smile and a shrug.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione practically yelled as she ran to him.

He embraced her and couldn't help but cry in relief. She was okay.

"Harry, is he- is Vol-?" she mumbled into his shoulder, unable to finish the sentence.

"Yeah, he's gone," he answered, still unable to actually believe it himself.

"Oh, thank you," she whimpered, trying to wipe off her eyes with her sleeve.

"Are you okay?" he asked her as she held her hand safely.

"I will be," she said. She stole a glance at the ring on her left hand. "After we find everyone else."

He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Let's go find them."

* * *

_Hermione gasped and Harry turned to look at her, his stomach plummeting. Remus was kneeling above a bloody figure. His back was to both of them, but he was visibly shaking. He was holding the limp figure's hand. Remus Lupin was sobbing over a mangled, bloodied, and dead Tonks. Fenrir Greyback lay dead a few feet away, his face covered in blood. Whether it was his own or someone else's could never be determined. Harry had to look away and squeeze his eyes shut. He heard nothing from Hermione, but she was shaking harder than ever. Harry continued on, his arm still around Hermione. He had to know and so did she._

Tonks and Remus had landed side by side as they Apparated to Godric's Hollow. Remus had flinched upon impact as he had stared at the familiar street but shook it off when the Death Eaters began to advance.

Remus drew his wand and took two steps forward before an arm reached out and grabbed his left hand. He spun around to see Tonks, her eyes sparkling in that special way that he knew was reserved only for him.

"Be careful," she whispered as she smiled softly.

He also smiled at her, a rarity for him in these dark times. "You too, Nymph."

Her nose crinkled as she scrunched her face in mock disgust. "You know I hate that name."

He merely chuckled lightly and squeezed her hand in reply.

She squeezed back and then let go as they set off to fight.

Remus was starting off easily; most of those that came to battle him first were either novices or else just very stupid (he was willing to bet on both), and they fell without too much trouble on his part. After a few minutes, however, he could feel a cold shiver run down his spine. He turned to look behind him.

A huge fleet of Dementors were making their way down the street, pausing every now and then to attack unsuspecting Auror or Phoenix members. And, as they sailed ever closer, Remus kept feeling a nag at the back of his head, telling him how hopeless this mission was, how it was impossible for a teenager to be the savior of the Wizarding World….

The Dementors were slowly floating towards him. He, however, was preoccupied with a particularly persnickety Death Eater, so was unable to take notice, apart from the fact that the sense of doubt was continually pressing down upon him like a dark shadow. Others, however, were noticing as they sent a variety of Patronuses at them. Many of the dark specters cowered in front of the white, glistening beasts attacking them, which ranged from sparkling foxes to glittering bears to shining lions.

Remus finally finished off his enemy with a Restraining Hex and turned to face some of the Dementors that had managed to escape the onslaught of Patronuses. He hurriedly tried to summon a happy thought. However, as they advanced on him, it was becoming harder and harder to do so.

Finally, he was able to settle on a thought, one so simple Remus could hardly believe he overlooked it.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" he roared, as a dazzling white wolf emerged from the tip of his wand and pounced on the oncoming enemy.

Remus smiled as he thought of the one thing that had made his life so happy for the past year.

However, a far-too-familiar scream shattered his thoughts and shook him to the core. Remus turned to search for the source, and what he saw made his blood stand cold.

In one of the side alleys by a big house, a large, rangy man with matted gray hair and whiskers was slowly advancing on Tonks, who was grasping her side as blood flowed freely from an injury no doubt caused by the man's claw-like fingers. They were so far away from the battle that no one could see the two squaring off apart from him, thus no one could help Tonks.

Remus could not help but stand as white hot anger coursed through his body. This was the man that had ruined his life. The man Remus once felt pity for as a child. The man that was now trying to destroy his future.

Fenrir Greyback smiled at Tonks, exposing pointed teeth stained red, most likely from the blood of a previous battle.

Remus took two steps toward the two before the heat of anger was doused with a cold wave of panic. In his fear for Tonks his Patronus had lost strength and ultimately lost its battle against the Dementors.

A pair of cold, clammy hands wrapped themselves around his neck from behind. He struggled with the Dementor, but the lack of oxygen and feeling of impending doom was slowly taking its toll, making him weaker.

From what he could see, Fenrir, who was previously circling Tonks, had pounced on top of her and was taking ferocious swipes at her face, arms- mostly anything within reach. For her part, Tonks was trying and failing to put up a defense. She flailed under the man's strong arms and desperately aimed spells at him, but missed him each time by inches.

If Remus didn't do something soon, Tonks would be killed.

A new spark flared inside Remus as he fought hard against his assailant. He kicked, punched, scratched, and everything else within his power to escape and, miraculously, his fist finally connected with something. He heard a soft raspy gasp and the pressure on his neck was slightly decreased. It was all he needed.

He turned quickly so he was facing the Dementor. Rather than retract, Remus sunk his fist into the hood and heard another harsh breath as the Dementor reluctantly released him to put its scabbed hand up underneath his hood.

Remus took the opportunity to whip out his wand and yell the Patronus Charm. Whether out of anger or relief of being free, the wolf burst out of his wand with a ferocity such that Remus had never seen. It growled deeply and snapped its jaws as it attacked the Dementor head on, causing it to retreat.

Remus left the Patronus to deal with his old foe as he turned and ran to meet his new one. Fenrir was in the same position as before, but was further along with his goal of tearing Tonks to shreds.

Tonks, as soon as she could see Remus –which must have been hard for her, seeing as how both of her eyes were incredibly puffy—merely smiled with relief –again, a hard feat, seeing as how much her face had swelled—and started to cry silently.

This caused Remus to run faster and completely forget his wand for once as he tackled Fenrir and dragged him down. They landed in a heap on the ground, twisting and flailing as both tried to get in a good enough position to hurt the other one.

Remus was finally able to jump up and land a good kick in Fenrir's face. He yelped and withdrew slightly, spitting out blood and a few teeth. Fenrir retaliated by rising quickly and striking Remus on his jaw. He felt something crack but ignored it as he backhanded him in the same place he had kicked him before.

Fenrir hissed in pain and pounced on him, using his claws to scratch Remus on the face and shoulder. Remus could feel something uncomfortable sticking into his wrist, and as he tried to move his hand he realized it was his wand. His arms were pinned to his side but he was able to slowly slide the wand into his hand and aim it at Fenrir's thigh. He muttered a _Reducto_, causing Fenrir to jump off of him and clutch his leg, which had a large indentation in it, as though a Bludger had pelted him at full force.

As Fenrir bared his teeth at him, exposing a few missing teeth, Remus chanced a glance at Tonks.

She was lying quite still on the ground, blood pouring from her wounds. She was watching the resulting battle through glazed eyes, and her normally violently shaded hair lay limply around her face, black as night.

Remus felt his breath catch in his throat. He turned back to the battle to finish off his opponent. He aimed his wand but it was knocked out of his hand by Fenrir's Disarming Hex. Remus stepped back slightly as Fenrir smirked cockily.

As Remus stared at Fenrir's wand, he couldn't help but think about how James must have felt when faced with Voldemort's wand. Did he feel as desperate and useless as Remus was feeling just now? That the fate of the ones he loved rested solely on his survival? And how did Sirius feel before he fell into the depths of the Veil? That falling would let everyone down? That he hadn't done enough? He couldn't even help it as he thought of Peter cowering before the Dark Lord. Had he felt as scared and helpless as Remus was feeling? That there was no other alternative other than what he was facing now?

What had happened to the four of them, he wondered silently as Fenrir muttered the Killing Curse. Why did life have to happen like this? Was it always this cruel? This painful?

The green light was slowly making its way toward Remus, and all he could think about was his past. As the whooshing sound of death met his ears, he reminisced about the times before all of the deaths, before the betrayal, when they were at school. The way James obsessed over Lily, no matter how often he denied his love for her. The way Sirius could do as he pleased without ever getting into trouble— well, not too much trouble— well, not life-endangering— well, nobody was ever killed. The way Peter was always there to pipe up a good idea, the way he could virtually disappear whenever things got sticky but always showed up in the end when there was real trouble. The way they were best friends, through thick and thin.

Before the fatal curse could touch Remus, however, something miraculous happened. A bright white something stood in front of him, taking the curse and blasting into a million glittering stars and twinkles. Remus blinked and realized that it was his Patronus.

Fenrir, too, was stunned, but for a different reason. The intense light had blinded him, for he was squinting as he tried to find out where to aim his wand.

Remus used this time to recover his wand and drew it on the unsuspecting Fenrir. He turned very briefly to stare at Tonks, who still had her glazed eyes locked on the battle. Something inside him stirred as all of their tender moments swept quickly through his mind, the memories strengthening his will to do what needed to be done.

"_Avada Kedavra_," he said clearly and concisely, as though he were teaching students at Hogwarts. The green light connected to Fenrir's chest, and he fell to the earth with a resonating thud, eyes still glossed over, first from the blinding light and now from the darkness of death.

Remus barely took time to stare disgustedly at the dead body before turning towards Tonks.

He ran to her and slid on his knees on the wet grass to land beside her. He cradled her head and rubbed her old tears away with his thumbs. She did not acknowledge his presence, but continued to stare hauntingly towards Fenrir's corpse.

He carefully moved the hair away from her bloated face and then reached a hand to grasp hers. It was as cold as ice.

He stiffened, and slowly, fearfully, pressed his thumb against her neck, searching for a pulse.

He couldn't find one.

"No," he murmured, tears starting to well up in his eyes. He lay her head back down to press his ear against her chest. There was no steady thumping of a heart, no constant beat as blood circulated through her body, nothing.

He sobbed softly but couldn't let go of her hand.

"_No_," he whispered painfully. His throat felt raw, as if he hadn't usedhis voicein years. "C'mon, Nymph, wake up, yell at me, you hate that name…."

He rubbed her hand with both of his, but it remained cold, and she remained still.

"I told you to be careful! Why didn't you listen?"

His voice cracked halfway through the question. He muffled a sob.

"Wake up! WAKE UP! TONKS!"

And he sat there and cried for hours, not caring who saw him. Nothing mattered anymore.

* * *

**A/n: **Okay, sorry about the rather depressing ending, but dude, you lose the love of your life and I'm pretty sure that's how you gotta feel. But don't you just love 'particularly persnickety Death Eater' line? I love alliteration! 

Okay, next chapter's going to come way sooner than this one did (aka I won't wait 2 weeks for another post, if all goes according to plan). And it will involve the Bill/Fleur death (sad), Fighting!Ginny, and Harry/Hermione/Ginny reunion. Oh, yeah, and Luna makes a brief appearance in the next one! So stay tuned for another chapter, hopefully this weekend!

Special thanks to my newest reviewer, buffalo1fromSalem! Yeah, I had a Calc exam, although it wasn't too difficult for me. I did okay in that class.

So thanks for reading, and please review! It's always appreciated!

diesel writer


	6. The Wraths of a Veela and a Weirdo

**A/n:** Okay, I seriously think that I got a lot more done for this fanfic when I was at school compared to now, when I'm on break. All my information is saved on my laptop, but when I'm home I usually use the computer downstairs, so I don't get on my laptop much, not to mention the fact I have yet to unpack my battery, and it's been three weeks!

I decided, though, that during these next few days I'm not going to want to walk around. I went to the beach yesterday and got fried, resulting in a sunburn that won't let me sleep at night because my shoulders and thighs are screaming in protest. So basically I'm stuck to limited mobility, meaning (hopefully; I won't be making any promises) I can get on to the computer more.

**Note**: Harry/Ginny fans should be happy with this chapter, especially the second half. Bill/Fleur fans will probably not be happy with this chapter, especially the first half. But what can I say? I don't do stuff to please people, I do it because I feel it necessary. So please read all the same.

Okay, my nose may be peeling, but we're heading right into this chapter anyway! Enjoy!

**CHAPTER 5: The Wraths of a Veela and a Weirdo**

_Another flash of red lying on the ground- A man lay stone cold alongside his wife. Their hands were clasped together.A small sob escaped Hermione's throat and Harry closed his eyes, willing the scene away. Bill and Fleur were both dead. Harry led Hermione away, because they both had to know._

Charlie fired off a few hexes as Ginny watched his back, setting up shields and blocking unfriendly spells. They had a good system going; he would attack and she would defend. Together, brother and sister were an unstoppable force, as they took out enemy after enemy daring enough to get in their way.

Ginny felt Charlie stiffen next to him and turned to look at her older brother. He was staring at a rather large crowd of Death Eaters, who seemed to be slowly advancing on two fiercely dueling red heads.

Two very familiar fiercely dueling red heads.

Even from her spot, Ginny could see the faces of her twin older brothers fighting off the massive hoard nearly as well as Ginny and Charlie were holding off theirs.

Charlie turned to look at his baby sister, then to Bill, who was only a few feet away.

"Bill!" he shouted at him, now blocking spells rather than attacking. "Someone's got to go help Fred and George!"

Bill chanced a look where his two brothers were dueling before glancing at Charlie. "Go on," he replied, then sent a hex over at an enemy. "I'll keep watch over Gin."

Charlie nodded and sent off another curse, removing yet another foe from the fight. "Ginny," he muttered while continuing to fight. She nodded to show she was listening as she fought. "I'll help them out, then come back for you. Keep an eye on Bill; he's crazy."

Ginny nodded again, wondering vaguely if this would be the last time she would see her older brother.

He smiled and went off after the twins, leaving her and Bill to deal with the Death Eaters. Bill took over Charlie's spot, as he fired off curses while Ginny was left to defend.

They did fairly well together, but both were happy when help came in the unexpected form of a very beautifully angry French woman with long blonde hair.

"_Bill_!" she shouted furiously, knocking out two Death Eaters inadvertently as she reached her husband. "Never again! You theenk you can just abandon me at ze Burrow, to let you fight alone? I shall not stand for zis!"

She took out another three Death Eaters in her rage and stood face to face with a slightly cowering Bill.

"Y-you were supposed to watch after Mum," Bill started, but it seemed as though his wife had other plans.

"Your mother is more zan capable of taking care of 'erself! I am a fighter, not a nurse!"

Bill didn't say anything, but continued to fight with the other Death Eaters.

"I- I know," he muttered. He then surprisingly turned to look at Ginny. "You don't mind?'

Ginny thought this a very odd question. "We can use all the help we can get."

Bill smiled and turned to look at his wife, nothing but passion in his eyes. "Okay," he replied. "Till death do us part."

Fleur Delacour smiled smugly and fought next to her husband and sister-in-law.

All three fought furiously, taking out anyone who stood in their way. After all, with three people as passionate as these, it would be very hard to break their spirits.

However, a problem presented itself in the form ofan enormous blond Death Eater,who was throwing hexes left and right. Fleur was hit with a Stinging Hex on her left hand but ignored it as she tried to counter and attack the hooded man.

Bill saw the problem and immediately went over to help his wife. Being left-handed, he was able to hold her injured hand in his right and rub his thumb over it to try to relieve some of the pain she was obviously holding in. She smiled at him, and together they raised their wands.

They fought fiercely together, trying to take down the huge Death Eater as Ginny continued to fight other, less vicious, enemies.

It only took a few minutes before the blonde Death Eater began to be worn down by the married couple. One well-placed _Stupefy_ from Bill and the man fell to the ground, unconscious.

But, as Ginny continued to fight against the dark wizards, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Two unmasked figures where pointing their wands at Fleur and Bill's unprotected backs. Ginny felt herself freeze up, and in that amount of time she was struck with a Silencing Charm.

She tried to scream, to get Bill and Fleur's attention, but to no avail. While they were busy dueling more enemies hand in hand, they were unable to see the two green spells headed right for him.

Ginny felt tears fall down her cheeks as both husband and wife were hit at the same time. They fell together, hands still clenched. Her heart stopped when theirs did, as they hit the ground unmoving.

Ginny turned furiously to stare at her brother and sister's murderers. She would have been able to identify their haughty smirks anywhere.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy looked condescendingly at Ginny.

"Ah, young Weasley," Lucius said, twirling his wand in his hand. "Narcissa, dear, this is the young lady I gave our Lord's diary to."

The woman grinned, showing perfectly straight white teeth. "Oh, so this is the girl he possessed."

Ginny could feel the effects of the Silencing Charm wear off as her anger bubbled to the surface. That incident had haunted her, and they talked about it as though they were proud of her?

"How dare you," she said, although it sounded like a whisper as the charm was still in place.

"I'm sorry, dear, you'll have to speak up," Narcissa replied cruelly.

She didn't need to speak to send off a curse, so she sent off a few hexes that they deflected easily.

"It's not going to be as simple as that," Lucius replied calmly.

"You can't get away with hurting my family," she muttered darkly.

"Why, I believe I just had," he answered airily.

She flung another hex at him, but he rebounded and sent it back to her. She dodged and was missed by inches. She pulled herself back up and tried to regroup. She was alone, with loads of Death Eaters under the control of the Malfoys. If she could get rid of the couple, she was pretty sure she could handle the rest.

She thought quickly of what Harry would do, given the situation. Harry was resourceful and used whatever he was given. Unfortunately for her, there was nothing and no one around but dark witches and wizards.

She remembered last year, the night Dumbledore died. She recalled the enormous blonde Death Eater that Bill and Fleur had just taken down, how he was able to cause such mayhem by throwing as many curses and hexes as possible. She decided it was worth a shot.

She fired off as many spells as she could remember, between all her years at Hogwarts and all she learned from her brothers and Harry from the D.A.

Most spells missed by a mile. Granted, she wasn't truly aiming for anything, but all the same many flew off into the air and away from everyone. Her plan, though, seemed to be working. The Death Eaters seemed confused as they blocked the hexes, which in turn ricocheted and aimed at another enemy, who blocked those to aim at other enemies. It was a continuous cycle that eventually brought down many of the Death Eaters.

The repetitive casts, although a good strategy, was definitely wearing Ginny down. She finally stopped after a few minutes for a breath and surveyed the damage.

Many hooded figures were on the ground, unconscious. Only half a dozen or so remained standing, including the Malfoys, both of whom appeared to be the only ones uninjured.

"What's wrong, little Weasley? Tired?" questioned Lucius confidently.

"You wish," answered Ginny breathlessly.

A sudden bright light appeared from behind the two, and Narcissa hissed in pain as a deep welt appeared on her shoulder. Another flash and Lucius fell to one knee, clutching his leg. With Lucius down, Ginny could see the culprit behind the two injuries and couldn't help but smile.

Luna Lovegood stood behind them both, clutching her wand and looking, as always, as if she had arrived there by accident.

"Hello, Ginny," she said calmly. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Luna, thanks," Ginny answered, grinning like an idiot. She couldn't help it; seeing Luna there reinstated her hope that everything would be okay.

Luna walked around the Malfoys to stand beside Ginny. "I thought you could use some help; you seemed tired."

Ginny glanced at her brother and sister-in-law. "I'm okay," she replied. "Let's finish this."

The two girls turned back to face the Malfoys and drew their wands.

* * *

_And they ran into Ginny. She had been completely burned. Her hair was singed and large welts were on her face and hands. She was staring at her brother's and sister's-in-law lifeless bodies, tears filling her eyes. But then she looked up into Harry's eyes, and all the fear and sadness escaped her and was replaced with a great happiness and unimaginable relief. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny shared a hug together, as fierce and strong as their friendship. Harry and Ginny shared a kiss, as passionate and affectionate as their love. Hermione and Ginny shared a cry, as happy and caring as their sisterhood. Hermione and Harry shared a laugh, as free and warm as their relationship. And all three continued on. Because there was a missing piece. And they all had to know._

"Ginny."

Harry could barely breathe; it was as if all the air had escaped from his lungs. There she was, standing, perfectly fine. Well, she was hurt, but she was alive and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Ginny turned her tearstained face to him. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief, and then she smiled to reveal that hard blazing look he had fallen in love with.

"Harry! Hermione!"

She ran over to them and flung her burned arms around both of them, unaware of the injuries they had sustained. Neither cared, however, as they returned the hug.

"He's gone then, Harry?" she barely more than whispered, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yes, I killed him."

She smiled. "Oh, Harry…."

Neither could help it as their lips met in a fierce, hungry kiss. This was what both had been fighting for, to be able to have this future together. All of the pain was worth this.

"Thank you," Ginny muttered into his ear, before capturing his lips once again.

"Anytime," he whispered onto her lips a while later.

She smiled and they shared one more tender kiss.

They finally separated and Harry could feel Hermione shaking again.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked. Why would she start crying now?

"It's- it's…." She sniffled. "I'm just so happy!" she finally exclaimed, letting Harry go to hug Ginny tightly.

The red head couldn't help it either as the tears poured from her eyes.

"I missed you Ginny," Hermione wailed as she held tight the youngest Weasley.

"Me too," Ginny sobbed into her shoulder.

They parted and Hermione turned to look at Harry. He couldn't help but let out a laugh. Girls were very strange sometimes.

Hermione joined in and the two laughed for a while, not being able to stop, while Ginny swiped at her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Are you okay, Ginny?" Hermione asked as she tried to stem the flow of her tears.

"Yeah," Ginny replied, rubbing a welt subconsciously. "Luna was here earlier. She's gone off to go help the Healers." She looked at Harry. "And I went off to look for you."

Harry smiled halfheartedly as he threw his arms around the two girls.

"We've still got one more to find."

Both girls looked on worriedly as they walked off together.

* * *

**A/n**: I think this chapter was slightly shorter than normal, but that's only because we are nearing the end! That's right, people, only three chapters left! And I can tell you now, Ron fans will be very happy with the last two chapters. He is my favorite character after all. 

I would like to thank my very good friend Shari, a.k.a. Solstice Muse, for her lovely review. If any of you readers are not familiar with her work, she's a goddess with a keyboard, and she's a huge Ron fan. So go check her out!

My goal for this story is to get more reviews than chapters, so please, PLEASE review! I would greatly appreciate it!

So next chapter will feature Percy (yeah, that guy no one particularly likes) and Mr. Weasley (yeah, that guy many people like, including me!). Also we'll find out why everyone's fighting in Godric's Hollow in the first place, and you'll witness the destruction of the last Horcrux! Won't that be fun?

Okay, well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you review, and thanks for reading!

-dieselwriter

P.S.- About the title...no, I do not think Luna a weirdo necessarily... I just think of her as eccentric. However, that would not be nearly as catchy, so I stuck with weirdo. Sorry if I offended any Luna fans.


	7. Percy's Redemption

**A/n**: My sincerest apologies to all of my dedicated readers. I know it's been a while, but I've just started working 8 to 5 every day, and quite frankly it beats the crap out of me. I'm in charge of a day camp, which basically means I'm babysitting 14 munchkins for 9 hours a day with only one helper. It can be a real pain, but it does make every day rather interesting.

Good news is I have this week off, which is the only real reason as to why I'm updating. Unfortunately, I have to work another 2 weeks after this week, so don't expect any more updates until after that. More good news is that these next 2 weeks are my final 2 weeks, so I'll be able to finish this story! Then again, I have to find time to go to the doctor, get my wisdom teeth pulled, and put a cap on my front tooth, as well as spend time with my grandparents and godmother who are coming in next week. Well, my summer should end interestingly enough. But enough about my hectic life; I'm sure you've all skipped this part anyway!

So here's the next chapter, and stay tuned for the final two installments in the weeks to come….

**CHAPTER SIX: Percy's Redemption**

_More people were beginning to rise, beginning to help others. The trio stayed away from the groups of Healers, from the questioning eyes of those beginning to stir. Ginny tensed under Harry's hold on her waist, and he turned to where she was looking. Arthur Weasley was holding his son in his arms, crying openly for everyone to see, but he did not care. Percy's hollowed eyes stared at the sky, completely blank. A dementor had taken his soul away. Tears were falling down Ginny's face, and Hermione was shaking with uncontrolled sobs. Harry could not watch this heart-wrenching scene, so he guided the girls away. Because they all had to know. They had to._

The minute Arthur Weasley had received the distress Floo from Kingsley Shacklebolt, he had jumped into action. Molly was to stay at St. Mungo's with other volunteers to prepare and help with the Healers, Minerva was called to send in as many students from Hogwarts she deemed worthy to fight, and the Order members where rounded up and together they Apparated to Godric's Hollow.

Since then, he had been fighting flawlessly, taking down each witch and wizard that bothered to stand in front of him. After all, he was fighting for a lot more than the safety of the Wizarding World.

He was fighting for the safety of his family.

With that thought in mind, nothing seemed to slow him down as he continued to fight, ignoring the slight doubt creeping into his mind like a dark shadow.

However, unbeknownst to Arthur, every family member was helping with this war, one way or another.

Including his third-eldest son, Percy.

When Percy had heard the Aurors taking action in the Ministry, he couldn't bear to think his family might very well be on their way as well. He knew, though, that they'd have to be; they were in that Order, weren't they?

Yes, he'd been a miserable pompous git to them before, but that didn't mean he wanted any of them hurt.

So the minute he had heard of the destination he left to fight.

And when he landed all he could really make out were the visions of Aurors battling Death Eaters. He only knew faces from the Ministry, though—he couldn't make out anyone he knew.

Then, suddenly, he sought out fiery red hair; Ron was fighting with a Death Eater Percy identified as Peter Pettigrew from the wanted posters at the Ministry. Percy felt a hard lump form in his throat as Peter sent out a Slashing Hex that hit Ron in the arm. Percy wondered vaguely if Ron had heard about the Thousand Galleon reward placed on the capture of the Dark Lord's right hand man, and if he was out to get it. Percy vaguely remembered the letter he wrote Ron nearly three years ago, telling him to be a good boy much like Percy had become; to listen to the Ministry so everything would be alright for him. So much for that, eh?

Just as Percy started walking over to rectify the situation, a cold shiver ran down his spine. He turned around to see a swarm of Dementors slowly making their way across the battlefield. And he also noticed they were getting dangerously close to his father, who must have arrived when Percy wasn't watching.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

He ran.

Arthur had taken down another wizard when he felt cold sweat trickling down the back of his neck. His legs, for some reason, had also started to tremble. He ignored the telltale signs and continued to fight, until something made his heart stand still.

Percy, his son Percy, was running and shouting something at him. Just as he was turning toward his son, however, a new enemy sprung up seemingly from nowhere and a new battle was waged.

Percy swallowed hard as he realized his father had recognized him and ignored him. He couldn't really blame him, though; he'd been doing that to his father for the past three years.

Percy raised his wand and tried to remember the pride he felt as a result of one of the Minister's compliments. He glowed internally at the memory and took careful aim at the Dementors that were slowly closing in on his father.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!"

Arthur continued to fight, ignoring the feelings of dread and despair on him. Why was this doubt affecting him now?

Percy ran forward as his Patronus took out the closest Dementor. He knocked Death Eaters out of the way and ran to his father.

Arthur's breath was catching in his throat now, as he sent spell after spell at anyone and anything wearing dark robes. If this kept up he'd have to rely on non-verbal spellwork, which wasn't his strong suit.

Percy's Patronus, along with the help of others, had slowly taken affect as some of the Dementors began to retreat. However, there were still a few left, including one heading right for his father. He ran forward, knowing what he had to do.

Arthur could feel some of the darkness alleviating, and his throat felt less constricted so he could fire off his curses with more vigor. However, now he felt something nagging at the back of his mind.

Percy darted between fights and launched himself on the Dementor slowly advancing on his father, who was furiously fighting with Death Eaters left and right. The dark creature shrieked and elbowed Percy in the face, causing his glasses to break and blood to gush out of his nose.

It was then Arthur felt it; that strong paternal urge that a child of his was in trouble. He looked left and right as he continued to fight. Who was it? Where were they?

Percy pinched the bridge of his nose and searched blindly for his glasses; he really was useless without them. Well, he was pretty useless with or without them, he supposed. He didn't really blame Penelope when she left him years ago; or that his family disowned him, much like he had them.

The Dementor was taking its toll on Percy's mind as it raised its dead rotting hands. His mind, much like his sight, was clouded as the dark creature slowly pulled its hood down.

Arthur was becoming positively frantic now as he barely took concern for those around him in search of his child in trouble. He was close; he could feel it.

It was probably lucky Percy was unable to see the sight before him; underneath the hood was the face of death. The skin was thin, gray, and scabbing, and there were no eyes to this creature; only a gaping, shapeless hole sucking the air around, stripping it of happiness and hope.

The creature wrapped its hands around Percy's throat and slowly raised him up…his head was being forced upwards…he could feel hot, rancid breath on his ice cold skin….

Arthur stopped dead in the street. His breath caught in his throat as he realized which child was in trouble.

"Percy…."

As Percy listened to the rattling whisper of the Dementor draw near in paralyzing fear, he could swear he heard something behind him.

Arthur ran to his son. He had tried, with disastrous results, to produce a Patronus. He was too distracted and upset to think up anything happy at all.

"Percy! PERCY!"

Percy could hear someone shouting, but as he felt the Dementor clamp its rotting mouth over his, he could not answer.

Arthur momentarily froze as he watched the Dementor slowly take his son's soul away. He felt dampness on his cheek as he realized he was crying. He darted forward.

"_PERCY_!"

Everything was flashing before Percy's eyes in a white haze. All the memories of his childhood, family, friends, time at school, and work at the Ministry crossed over his mind; love, hate, jealousy, anger, sadness, guilt, happiness, and pride flashed through his heart. A tear escaped his eye.

And then there was no more.

Percy fell to the ground; devoid of any and all emotion, thought, and will.

Arthur pushed past the only two people left standing around him as he finally made it to his son's side, too late. The Dementor loomed over them both as Arthur shakily lifted his son's head from the ground.

"P-Percy, c'mon son…w-wake up," Arthur mumbled as he rubbed some of the dried blood on his son's face. "I'm here…it's t-time to g-get up."

Percy's glossy eyes made no sign of recognition as they continued to stare into a void no one else could see.

"_Percy_," Arthur whispered longingly, "_son_…."

The Dementor, its hood still down, could barely seem to contain its glee as it slowly reached its clammy, scabbed hands towards the old wizard.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" a stiff, commanding voice shouted.

A bright, glistening Patronus in the form of a large feline came out of the speaker's wand and quickly pounced at the opportunity to get rid off the dark menace once and for all.

"Arthur," Minerva McGonagall reprimanded, staring intently at his back, "what's this? Putting your guard down in the middle of a battlefield? Come along, up you get."

Arthur turned to look her in the eye, nothing short of devastation written on every inch of his face. "Minerva…."

The Headmistress seemed to falter slightly as she stared at him; he seemed completely lost. "Arthur…what's happened?"

Arthur sighed and maneuvered his body a bit to reveal the limp Percy in his arms. McGonagall gasped and put a hand up to her mouth.

"A-Arthur, is he…dead?"

Silence answered her question as tears rolled down the father's face, his son clutched tightly to his chest.

* * *

_Nagini the snake lay dead in the gutter, taken care of by Harry earlier before the final fight. With the final Horcrux out of the way, Harry was able to finally destroy the darkest wizard of all time. They passed on down the street._

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had Apparated to the miserable neighborhood of Godric's Hollow. At one point it had been a nice friendly neighborhood, full of nice friendly neighbors.

Now it was nothing short of a ghost town.

"Bright cheery place, eh?"

Harry gave Ron an appraising look, but Ron merely shrugged his shoulders. "What? Just trying to lighten the mood…."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she muttered something that sounded like '_Honestly'_ under her breath.

Ron grinned in a self-satisfied sort of way as he rolled up his sleeves. "Alright, where's this great filthy snake we're supposed to get rid of?"

Harry glanced around the dilapidated neighborhood he had lived in for a year; all of the houses were crumbling slightly and only seemed to be held up by magic.

"I think we should start at your parents' old house, Harry," Hermione said stoutly.

Harry nodded his head and all three descended down the street towards the charred remains of the Potter's old house, wands at the ready.

They only got halfway down the road, however, before Hermione shrieked as she pointed to something maneuvering its way through the tall grass of an old yard.

Harry and Ron stepped cautiously forward, wands raised, towards the creature. A low hiss sounded from the grass.

"On three, Sectumsempra?" Harry directed, keeping his wand aimed at the spot the grass last moved.

"Right," Hermione said, keeping her eyes glued to where she was aiming. "One…."

The creature, as if sensing danger, darted forward at an alarming rate to where the three were standing in the road.

"Three!" Ron shouted.

"_Sectumsempra_!"

A spitting sound came from the yard, and seconds later a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet in length, emerged from the grass and descended into the street in front of them, leaving a trail of blood.

Hermione stiffened slightly but kept her eyes narrowed at her target. Ron merely cleared his throat and kept his wand steady. Harry stepped forward in front of the other two and raised his wand.

"_Where is your master_?" Harry asked. His ability to speak Parseltongue caused the question to sound like a series of hisses to Ron and Hermione, but they remained silent, waiting for the snake's reaction.

Nagini's black beady eyes locked onto Harry's bright green eyes. "_He knew you would come here…Master always knows…._"

"_But where **is **__he?_" Harry tried again, a bit more forcefully than he had intended, as sparks flew out of his wand.

"_He waits for you…_" Nagini replied, seemingly unperturbed by Harry's agitation. "_He is ready for the final battle. He sent me here to wait for you…to tell you…Master knows all…. Dusk…tonight…he will be here. And if you do not show…Godric's Hollow will be gone before the dawn…."_

Harry didn't need to reply to the threat; after he killed the snake, Harry would be able to face Voldemort and finally defeat him, once and for all. There was no turning back now.

In the time Harry had taken to mull over the coming evening, Nagini quickly turned and started to move swiftly down the gutter.

"_Impedimenta_!" Ron shouted, in the same instant that Hermione sent off a non-verbal Freezing Charm. Both spells collided with the great snake and it slowed down considerably, although it continued to slither down the gutter, blood still oozing from its injuries.

Harry ran up to the beast, Ron and Hermione at his side. The snake hissed as it saw who was coming up.

"_Master…my Master…I must return…he needs me…._"

Harry turned to the other two. "Another round of Sectumsempra?"

Both nodded and all three poised there wands at the bleeding snake's slithering body.

"_Sectumsempra_!" the three chanted, and the snake twisted and writhed as more blood poured from the body.

Hermione made a noise in the back of her throat and looked away. Harry and Ron watched on, determined to wait until she stopped.

After a few more minutes, Nagini ceased to move. The snake made a few more shuddering motions, and then lay perfectly still.

"Is it…dead?" Hermione squeaked.

Harry carefully leaned down and poked the snake with his wand. It didn't move.

"I think so," Harry replied.

Ron kicked the snake so it rolled over in the gutter.

"_Ron_," Hermione scolded, more relieved than angered that the snake hadn't come back to life to snap at her assailant.

"Definitely dead," Ron ignored Hermione with a nod of his head. Then he turned to look at Harry. "Well? What now?"

Harry kept his eyes on the dead snake. "We get help." He glanced up the street towards his old house. "And then we wait."

* * *

**A/n**: Yep, so there's your explanation as to why everyone's fighting at Godric's Hollow in the first place, and what happened to poor old Percy. Now I know not many people like Percy, but honestly I think he's going to do something to redeem himself in the seventh book. Hopefully nothing this drastic, but then again he does have a lot to make up for…. 

Well, thanks to my new reviewer, ginny278, and to my favorite authoress and faithful reviewer, Solstice Muse.

Things to look forward to in the next chapter: RON! That's basically it. Do you honestly need another reason to read it? But yeah, Ron kicking Wormtail butt in the next chapter. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Moody will also make cameos. So please review (I gotta get it up to 10! C'mon guys, help a girl out!), and see ya next time (hopefully it won't take another month).

-dieselwriter


	8. Peter's Pride and Ron's Revenge

**A/n: **Okay, go ahead and do it, I know you all want to. I am a hideous, ugly person for waiting for so long to update, so go ahead and kill me now. It'll probably save you energy from doing it again, depending on how long it will be before my next update.

Tomorrow I get my wisdom teeth yanked out, so I'll have nothing to do for the next week or so, so expect an update in the not-so-distant future. Also, I'm hoping to find some new inspiration for a new fic! Should be exciting, despite the excruciating pain!

Well, here it is: the penultimate chapter of Finale. Sniff I'm gonna miss this fic when it's all done. That just means I'll have to write another one after this, I suppose.

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Peter's Pride and Ron's Revenge**

_They stopped in front of a corpse, lying cold by the sidewalk. He was lifeless, but Harry could never find remorse for the traitor before him. Peter Pettigrew had been killed. And the murderer was forty feet away, sitting up against a blasted mailbox post. And they finally found the missing piece._

Ron felt as if he was floating; a very strange feeling to feel during the final battle against the Dark Lord and Company.

He couldn't help it though; it seemed as if all bad thoughts had been erased from his head as he looked across a foggy horizon. He was in utter bliss. He didn't know why he felt like this, and, to be quite honest, he didn't care.

Suddenly, a voice spoke softly, carrying a melodic tone: _Aim your wand at the girl_….

Sure, he could do that. He pointed his wand where he felt instructed to.

_Now use the Killing Curse on her_….

Hang on, the Killing Curse? Ron had never performed an Unforgivable before…but to keep feeling this way, he could probably try….

_Kill the Mudblood, kill the Granger scum_...

Hold it- Granger? Hermione? Ron's arm froze halfway up as he tried to contemplate why he'd want to do something like that. He liked Hermione a lot-- a _whole_ lot-- he couldn't kill her.

_Use the Avada Kedavra! Lift your arm up and finish it!_

Ron's arm rose up in the air seemingly on its own accord. He couldn't let this happen—he _wouldn't_ let this happen, not if there was anything he could do about it. He could feel the words on the tip of his tongue, though.

"_Avada-_"

No! This is Hermione- remember your promise!

"-_Kedavra_!"

Ron wrenched his hand away from where he had been directed to point it so that the spell flew just right of Hermione's shoulder and, unbeknownst to Ron, hit Vincent Crabbe in the chest, affectively ending his life.

And suddenly, the empty blissful feeling was lifted as suddenly as though an ice cold bucket of water had been dumped over his head. He was left shaking and sweating and trying to remember exactly what was going on.

The last thing he remembered was dueling furiously with Peter Pettigrew before the rat had surprised him with the Imperious Curse.

While Pettigrew wouldn't normally seem like much of a match, he seemed to have found something he had never had before: confidence. Somewhere between having Voldemort as a master, having known Ron for 12 years, and having an indestructible silver left hand, Pettigrew now found himself dueling with a fire Ron hadn't anticipated.

Said rat was currently dodging curses from Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had taken over for Ron when he had become incapacitated. Shacklebolt was doing well, but Peter suddenly transformed and darted into the tall grass of a dilapidated front yard. Frustrated and swearing under his breath, Shacklebolt turned to Ron.

"You okay?"

Trying madly to get his shivering under control, Ron nodded.

Kingsley smiled. "After your N.E.W.T.s, Weasley, you may want apply for Auror training. Not many are able to throw off the Imperious Curse."

Ron nodded again, his teeth still chattering but the shaking now subsiding. He smiled at the Auror, a bit of pride shining through at the compliment.

Both turned to look into the tall grass the rat had disappeared into. Ron looked for any sign of movement; swaying of grass, the crunching of a twig, anything. After a minute of scanning the area, however, he could find none.

They'd have to go after him.

Ron stepped into the grass cautiously and looked around. Nothing moved, so he ventured in a bit further. A sudden crunching from behind him caused him to jump around with his wand raised, but it was only Kingsley. He raised his eyebrows at him and Ron's ears tinged pink as he continued to examine the yard.

After a minute or so, Ron seemed to think the searching was useless. They couldn't see him, but the rat could obviously see wherever they were; the grass was tall, but not _that_ tall. He turned to head back to the street to wait him out when a sharp cry from his right caused him to jump. As he turned, wand raised, a familiar swooping sensation overtook his stomach as his world turned upside down.

Startled, Ron dropped his wand as his legs came out from under him and he rose four feet in the air. He realized with grim satisfaction that, for the third time in his life, someone had placed the _Levicorpus_ Hex on him. He felt as though someone was hanging tightly onto his ankles as he slowly swiveled on the spot, the blood rushing to his head.

He felt his blood boil as he turned and was finally able to make out Pettigrew, in his human form, laughing at him. Shacklebolt was nowhere to be found.

Ron struggled to fight the curse wandless as Pettigrew slowly moved towards him, still laughing. He finally made it to point-blank range, no longer laughing but still with a malicious grin.

"You coward! Put me down and face me like a man!" Ron shouted furiously, still turning slightly on the spot.

Pettigrew squeaked out a laugh. "But I've always made a better rat than a person, haven't I, _master_?" He spat out the last word poisonously and raised his wand. "_Sectumsempra_!"

Ron flinched and closed his eyes as the spell came closer to him. He saw a bright light underneath his eyelids and his body jerked as pain sliced across the right side of his face. He felt a line of fire strike from his eyebrow and across his eye down to his jaw; it hurt and burned and if he didn't feel as nauseated as he did right now he might have passed out.

Something wet and warm was flowing down his face as he heard Pettigrew cackle with glee. "What's wrong? Haven't I been a good friend, a good pet? Let me prove myself to you, _master_." He continued to put a spiteful emphasis when addressing Ron as master.

Ron was abruptly released and fell to the hard earth flat on his back.

"_Crucio_!"

The stinging on his face seemed to multiply a hundred times over and spread throughout his entire body as the spell took full effect. He screamed and writhed on the ground, desperate to escape this internal prison. Nothing was worth this pain; he would never get rid of this pain…he was going to die in this agonizing pain….

But suddenly the pain was lifted as Pettigrew ended the curse. Ron was left on the ground, panting and trembling. Pettigrew stepped toward the teenager, a complacent look on his face.

"We're a lot alike, you and I, Ronnie," the wizard said, twirling his wand in his fingers. "You're Potter's right hand man, and I'm the Dark Lord's. If it wasn't for us, they wouldn't exist. We may be the sidekicks, yes, but we hold the power. The Dark Lord recognizes this power, and he rewards me for it. Potter, on the other hand, does not want to see you with this power. I watched him for three years, Ron. He is afraid of you, of the fact that you may be more powerful than him. You don't deserve that, do you, Ronnie?"

Ron continued to shudder on the ground.

"I asked if you deserved that, traitor!"

Ron glared up at the wizard above him. "Go to hell."

Pettigrew bared his yellow teeth as he drew back. "Well, the Dark Lord has rewarded my loyalty, Ronnie. Let's see how your devotion compares to mine."

Ron desperately searched the ground for his wand as Pettigrew advanced, his silver left hand outstretched. As his powerful fingers clamped around the redhead's neck, he felt his fingers clench around something long and thin. And as he was lifted off the ground, the dark wizard's powerful hand cut off all his air supply. Instinctively, he lifted the item in his hand and stabbed the rat in the eye.

Pettigrew yelled in pain and dropped Ron, clutching his eye. Ron fell to the ground with a thump and as he aimed, ready to fire off a Restraining Hex, he realized that he wasn't holding his wand at all, but rather a normal stick. He swore under his breath and scrambled around in the dirt, searching desperately for his wand.

He didn't get far before someone stepped in front of him. He froze in his tracks, and slowly raised his eyes up to see his wand in the hand of Kingsley Shacklebolt, looking worse for wear with a black eye and bleeding lip. To Ron, though, he was a definite sight for sore eyes.

"You may need this, Weasley," he said in his deep, calm voice.

Ron smiled as he took his wand back from the Auror. Shacklebolt then offered his hand, which Ron graciously took and stood firmly on his feet. Then both turned to face Pettigrew, who was cautiously taking his hand away from his face. His left eye was swollen shut.

They both raised their wands, ready to take out the rat once and for all, when a familiar grunt of pain sounded from the street. Distracted, both turned to see Mad-Eye Moody in a desperate situation against three Death Eaters. Ron and Kingsley looked at Pettigrew, who was trying to collect his bearings, and then at each other.

"Go on," Ron muttered, keeping his wand on Wormtail. "I can handle him."

Kingsley nodded and turned to leave. He hesitated and glanced back over his shoulder at the teen. "Are you sure—"

Moody took that particular moment to let out a grunt of indignation as another Death Eater joined the fight against the ex-Auror.

Ron fixed Kingsley with a look of steely determination. "He needs your help more than I do."

Kingsley bit his lip but turned away, this time without hesitation, and headed to help his fellow Order member.

Satisfied that he and Pettigrew were finally alone, Ron turned to find said rat with a wand trained at his chest. Ron, his wand already aimed, tried to think of a suitable spell. Knowing that the rat would do anything and everything within his power to win this duel did not help Ron come up with a great strategy. It would come to instincts over brains in this battle.

Wormtail sent out a silent curse and a jet of blue light headed straight for him. Ron set up a shield which rebounded the spell back at the caster, and then he cast his own Stunning Hex as a follow up.

Pettigrew blocked his ricocheted spell with a Shield Charm and caught the Stunner in his silver hand. He licked his lips nervously as he surveyed his opponent.

"C'mon, Ronnie, I know you can do better than that," he said as he cracked the knuckles on his silver hand.

"Damn straight," Ron muttered before shouting "_Tarantallegra_!"

Pettigrew sidestepped the curse and muttered "_Avada Kedavra_."

Ron, startled, barely had time to blink before the impulse to dive out of the way pulsed through him. Before he knew what had happened, his arm was scratching cement as the Killing Curse flew past him and blasted a mailbox into pieces, leaving nothing but the stump of the post.

Ron rolled over and landed back on his feet. He turned to face the murderer, now not only his head protesting in pain, but also his arm. "Bloody hell! Can't duel me like a man now that you don't hold an unfair advantage?"

Pettigrew smirked and shook his head. "_You_ call it an unfair advantage. _I_ see it as a survival strategy. _Crucio_!"

Ron backtracked and the spell flew inches away from his nose. "Cursing your opponent while his back is turned is a survival strategy? That's funny, because I would call that being too spineless to face him head on. _Reducto_!"

Pettigrew ducked as the spell flew over his head. "Okay, you keep it in your way, Ronnie, and I'll keep it in mine."

Both glared at each other another second before unleashing a barrage of spells at each other. While Ron was definitely the better duelist of the two, Pettigrew's silver hand was a definite benefit that helped to even the field. After a few minutes, the two were so tired dodging curses was not an option; the winner would be the first to use the Killing Curse with perfect aim.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

Ron's Disarming Hex was so powerful that, despite Pettigrew catching it in his silver hand, he slid back several feet.

"_Sectumsempra_!" the dark wizard countered, after throwing the other hex completely.

Ron, too tired to move, took the curse in the arm. Pain once again seared through his body, this time from his shoulder to the inside of his elbow. He grimaced as the blood began to blossom on his shirt.

He looked at his arm, and realized that Peter would no longer be pulling any punches.

If he wanted to end this, there was only one spell that would work. The one he had learned about in his fourth year, the one that would land him in prison just for trying to use it.

He'd already used it once, though, hadn't he?

As he raised his wand, recognition dawned on Pettigrew. The dark wizard looked scared as he opened his mouth wide. "Ron- you don't want to do this- think about your family…they wouldn't want you to become a murderer…."

"Ha…that trick may have worked last time, but it won't help you now," Ron replied, trying to summon up his courage as he looked the selfish, traitorous rat cowering in front of him.

In a last-ditch effort at saving himself, Pettigrew raised his wand at the same time Ron shouted.

"_Stupefy_!"

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

Ron, completely winded at the fact that, for the second time that day, he had unleashed the Unforgivable Killing Curse, stood stock-still as Pettigrew's curse flew at him. Peter's sheer desperation had given the _Stupefy_ a powerful kick: as it made contact to Ron's chest, he was knocked backward off his feet and his back slammed into the post of the previously-blasted mailbox. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was a sobbed-out scream, and then the unmistakable _thump_ of a dead man hitting pavement.

* * *

**A/n: **All done for now, and only one chapter left! Mind you, it's more of an epilogue than a chapter, but it's exciting all the same! 

A big thanks to my newest reviewer, Stormy Bean, and a great heap of gratitude to my returning reviewers Solstice Muse and buffalo1fromSalem. And to banana-hannah...etc, it's not too long, yours is just too short! Stupid stinky sisters...

Final chapter involves the sappiest scene as of yet. A lotta love and loads of Ron/Hermione and Ginny/Harry -ness to go around! Should be fun!

So yeah, hope you enjoyed it, and hope you stick around until the end! We're almost there! Cuddles to those who review (except banana-han...etc, you get a punch if you DON'T review...).

-dieselwriter


	9. Finale

**A/n:** Welcome readers, one and all, to the finale of Finale! (Applause) I realize how long I've been making you wait for this, and here it finally is!

The first half of this chapter was written at the Detroit Airport, waiting for my 11:56 flight back to college, and the rest of it was written, well, now. I was going to post earlier, but quite frankly, sophomore year's kicking my tail! Organic Chemistry has got to be the evilest course in all the world, right next to learning Japanese when you've had no prior experience in the language. But I haven't failed anything yet, so nothing can be going too awful yet (knock on wood…).

So enough about me, let's get to the story!

This final installment will feature plenty of Harry/Ginny-ness, as well as a good dollop of Ron/Hermione-ness. I also realize that this is a bit shorter than usual, but this _is _more of an epilogue anyway. Plus, I'm the writer, so I can do as I please! Heeheehee….

Sigh, well, it's time, I reckon sniff. Man, I'm gonna miss this fic. However, I do have a few new ones in the works, so stick around at the end of this finale, and you shall get an exclusive invite on the inner workings of the dieselwriter's mind, and of her upcoming fics.

So, without further ado, here it is; drum roll please:

**CHAPTER EIGHT: Finale**

_It was Ron. The trio ran together as one to him; to the best friend, the lover, the brother._

Harry stood over the corpse of Peter Pettigrew, indecisive. Someone had finally taken care of the traitorous coward; had made him pay for all of his wrongdoings. For that, Harry was glad; but at the same time, he was jealous.

_He_ had wanted to be the one to take care of Wormtail; after all, it was the rat's fault that Harry's parents were dead, why Harry's godfather had spent 12 years of his life rotting away in a cell in Azkaban, and why Voldemort had been raised from his cursed half-life. And Harry would never forgive himself for letting Wormtail slip through his fingers in his third year.

"Harry."

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by Ginny's soft voice. She was tugging softly on his arm, urging him forward.

So Harry, still unsure about the whole thing, left the corpse as it was and guided the girls further down the sidewalk.

They walked a few steps together before Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Harry, who had been intent on watching the ground and trying to take deep, calming breaths, stopped along with Ginny to look at Hermione. She was pale and looking like she had when she was Petrified in her second year.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked her slowly.

Hermione's eyes were wide and scared as she turned to look at Ginny. She tried to communicate to her concerned friend but it seemed as though she was struck dumb. Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded her head forward.

Afraid for the worst, Harry turned to look where Hermione had indicated.

The adrenaline rush he had just felt seemed to leave him as he felt weak in the knees. His heart seemed to have stopped as the sidewalk disappeared beneath him.

"Oh my God," Ginny breathed, her grip on Harry's hand tightening painfully.

Ron's bleeding and battered body was about thirty feet away, leaning up against a previously-blasted mailbox post.

Hermione made a noise between a squeak and a scream and escaped from Harry's hold to run to Ron.

Harry followed quickly after her, hauling Ginny behind him.

It was hard for him to run; each step didn't feel like it was taking him anywhere, as if he were running in quicksand. Ginny seemed to be dead weight behind him, since she didn't seem to want to run as fast as he wanted her to. It felt as though she was pulling him backwards, she was running so slowly.

As Harry continued to drag Ginny alongside him, he could see Hermione as she slowed down the closer she got. He also began to slow as anxiety and fear crept in when Hermione dropped to her knees a few feet away from Ron. He could barely breathe, let alone walk, as he heard her speak, in barely more than a whisper.

"_Ron_?"

_And all three felt tears fall down their cheeks as he looked up into their faces. A gash in his arm was bleeding profusely, and an even longer cut trailed over his right eye. He could no longer see out of it. But he was still alive. They all were. And that was all that mattered. He gave them that goofy grin they were all used to, and they immediately pulled him up into a hug. The perfect moment; the puzzle completed._

Harry had reached Hermione, a shell-shocked Ginny in tow. To his surprise, Hermione was not crying. Her wide eyes were staring straight at Ron and his slightly disfigured visage.

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to slow his erratic breathing.

Hermione jumped at the touch and quickly turned to stare at Harry with her startlingly bright eyes.

On instinct, Harry retracted his hand and Hermione turned to look at Ron.

"He's okay, Harry. He's fine…."

Harry's stomach twisted painfully as he chanced a glance at Ginny. She looked terrified as she met Harry's eyes, and they seemed to come to an understanding: If Ron were…well, if there was anything seriously wrong with Ron, Hermione would be nothing short of devastated, especially after everything that had happened so far. It was too late to protect Ron, but Harry would be damned before he let his other best friend get hurt.

However, as Harry turned to Hermione, he saw her already crawling closer to Ron. Harry quickly strode and caught up to her, Ginny following right behind him.

"Hermione," Harry started, but something seemed to be blocking his throat, so he swallowed and tried again, "Hermione, maybe I should check it out first—"

But Hermione ignored him completely and reached out to touch Ron.

"Ron," she muttered at first, grasping his shirt sleeve. She pulled back quickly when Ron didn't stir. Her hands went up to her mouth and fearful tears traced down her cheeks. "Ron!"

"Hermione- wait," Harry told her strongly, desperately trying to keep down his nausea.

"Hermione- listen to us! _Please_!" Ginny cried out in a sob.

"RON!"

"HERMIONE!"

"_Shut up_!"

Hermione stood up so fast it seemed as if something had electrocuted her. Harry and Ginny held their breath in awed silence at the sound of the raspy, tired-sounding voice. And all three couldn't help but smile as Ron's head lifted to reveal a disheveled and grumpy face.

"_Gimme 10 more minutes_…."

Harry let out his breath and started grinning like a maniac, tears obscuring his vision. His nausea had all but disappeared, although the lump in his throat only seemed to grow larger.

Ron blinked his good eye as he realized who he was talking to. All signs of his foul mood vanished as he stared at the three people he most wanted to see. His blue eyes brightened as he gave a lopsided grin.

Harry walked the few steps over to his best friend and smiled down on him. "I think it's time to get up now."

Hermione and Ginny walked up behind him, afraid to look at Ron, as if doing so would cause him to disappear. Ron laughed and held out his hand to the three.

"Okay, help me up."

Harry immediately grabbed his arm and lifted him onto his feet. Ron stumbled slightly from the vertigo, but steadied himself by grabbing onto Harry's arm. "You- you did it then? You got rid of him?"

Harry continued to smile and nodded his head, the lump in his throat making it increasingly harder to breathe properly.

Ron grinned broadly as well and slapped Harry on the back. "Knew you could do it, mate! Vol- well, you know…he didn't stand a chance, Harry!"

Ron looked at Harry and seemed to be debating something with himself for a moment, before putting his arms around Harry and hugging him tightly. Whatever unspoken manly agreement the two had ever had about not hugging was shattered as Harry laughed and hugged his friend back.

"I always knew you could do it, Harry, I really did" Ron muttered as he squeezed him tighter. "Thanks mate. I- I'm proud of you."

Harry snorted and clapped him on the back. "Couldn't have done it without you, Ron."

Ron snorted right back and pulled back from the hug, but keeping both hands on Harry's shoulders, so they were forced to meet eye to eye.

"Repeat any of this girly stuff to anyone," Ron muttered with a mock-serious face, "Voldemort won't compare to what you'll have to face from me."

"So _now_ you can say his name?" Harry laughed, shaking his head incredulously.

"Well," Ron whispered conspiratorially, "it doesn't make much sense to be afraid of the name of a dead bloke."

Harry laughed again but Ron suddenly seemed distracted at something over his shoulder, so he turned around to see Ginny with a rather pathetic pout on her face. Her face was still deluged with tears and her deep, rapid breathing caused her whole body to shake. Harry smiled slightly as he moved out of the way so the brother and sister could reunite.

Ron smiled slightly and held his arms out. Ginny didn't need an introduction as she launched herself at her brother, holding to him tight around the middle.

His grin still firmly intact, Harry turned to look at Hermione. She looked as if she were fighting between running away and prying Ginny off of Ron. Her left hand was twisting around her bushy curls feverishly and her eyes kept darting between the Weasley brother and sister.

Harry went over and put his arm around her shoulders. She shuddered violently but refused to meet his eyes. Harry squeezed her shoulder and she brought her arms around herself, hugging tightly, as tears leaked recklessly down her cheeks.

Finally, after another minute or so of crying, Ginny stepped back from her brother. Ron's eyes were slightly bloodshot, but he still had a smile playing on his lips. Ginny hiccupped and furiously wiped away her tears. Ron reached out to her, but she shook her head and pointed a trembling hand toward Hermione.

"Hermione keeps giving me dirty looks," she said, smiling slightly. "I think she wants her turn now."

Ron turned to look where his sister had indicated, and his eyes fell on Hermione. Hermione, as if sensing the change in Ron's attention, dropped her hands and stared at him intently.

If Ron had ever looked surprised or relieved in his life, it compared nothing to how he looked at that moment. Harry was sure time had stopped working, for in the couple of seconds it seemed that the two gazed at each other, eternity seemed to pass by.

Ron took an uncertain step forward and held out a hand for her. Hermione gasped and ran to him.

Ron stumbled back slightly as Hermione collided with him. She threw her arms around his waist and it took him a few seconds to regain his footing and his breath before he snaked an arm around her waist. His other hand was busy curling her already quite frizzy hair.

Hermione looked up at him with watering eyes. Harry could barely make out her squeak. "You know, we should probably get those injuries checked out by a Healer. They could get infected and—"

Ron silenced her with a kiss. Harry, thoroughly happy and slightly revolted at the same time, made a face somewhere between a grin and a grimace as Ginny came up beside him. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the bridge of her nose. She scrunched up her nose and gave a grin.

They were finally together; four pieces of a perfect puzzle. And that was exactly how it was going to stay.

**FIN!**

**Final A/n**: Aww…what a great ending (if I do say so myself wink). One thing I think I really have to say at the end of all this is:

FINALLY!

Seriously, this ending has had sooo many rewrites, it's disgusting. So many important decisions! Who should say what, who should move there, and who's gonna be crying more, and why, and where should Ron and Hermione finally kiss for goodness sakes, and ARGH! You get the rest. Very hard, but completely worth it, I suppose. If I make you lot happy I reckon it's all good.

Well, a big old hardy THANK YOU to all of my fantastic, stunning, simply spiffing reviewers! You all ROCK! In fact, I shall list you. Wouldn't U Like 2 Know (yes, yes I would), thanks for the love, and sorry I made you cry. Quidditchgirlie, I'm always happy to find another canonically-supported shipper, and sorry to make you cry too. Dee, well, here's the next part of the story, hope you liked it, and sorry to make you cry as well (hmm, I'm sensing a pattern here...). Brattax23, thanks for the love as well, and sorry about depressing you. Don't worry, my next story is gonna be a bit happier than this one. And to my loving sister bananahannah, well, I think you received your answer in my last review. Hope you all liked this last chapter!

Okay, things to look forward to in the dieselwriter's story archive….

Plenty of one-shots, mostly Ron-ish, but containing plenty of Weasley family interaction. I've already finished a song-fic too (set to one of my favorite Maroon 5 song's of ALL time, as you'll soon see), but I think I'm going to add a bit more description into that one before I release it. Also (possibly) a two-shot in the works (if there is such a thing as a two-shot), concerning Ron and Hermione getting together! Fun there, fo sho….

Also (hopefully) working on a new story, dealing with action, adventure, mystery, romance, and comedy. Yeah, a little bit of everything, but all the good stories have this kinda stuff…. So it should deal with Ron having some fantastically great luck and him and Hermione figuring out the mystery of the stolen Snidgets. Confused? Well stay tuned for more!

Alas, now it is time to say goodbye, for now at least. I bid you all a fond farewell, and hope to hear from you again soon, after you hear from me first, of course. Stay cool and awesome, and warm fuzzies all around! Cheers!

-dieselwriter

P.S.- For some reason, the add ruler button wasn't working, so I don't have any line separators in this chapter. Hopefully that will be fixed in the near future, otherwise we might have a problem...O.o


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